Taxpayers in the towns of Charlestown, Richmond, and Hopkinton voted down a $150 million bonding request for the Chariho School District on May 7th.

A local citizens group, the Forgotten Taxpayers, ran a public awareness campaign to mobilize voters. Ultimately, this effort overwhelmed a well funded and well organized effort by the insider school district establishment made up of BuildRI, the AFL-CIO, and the Friends of Chariho for the Future.

The vote tally varied significantly across the three towns.

Charlestown strongly supported the bonding, with 829 votes in favor and 330 against (with some outstanding mail ballots).

Richmond rejected the bond by a narrow margin, 803 to 801.

Hopkinton, facing the largest tax increase this year due to the school budget hike, decisively turned down the bond with 1278 votes against and 705 in favor (also with some outstanding mail ballots).

The unofficial tally stands at 2406 votes against and 2316 in favor. While the majority of towns voted against the bond, it only needed rejection in one town to fail.

The district plans to revisit the drawing board to devise a fiscally responsible proposal acceptable to the voters while addressing the repair and renovation needs of the various schools.